I feel I have talked myself hoarse today. Drunk too much Earl Grey too. All in the name of research. (Bo will be impressed, I usually can’t be arsed)
I’ve talked at length with my friend Dan Whitehouse – he is a singer songwriter and he has helped me write, record and produce the sound work I have done over the last 2 years. He has blinded me with science and software. We were talking about how I might break down a sound into the equivalent of pixels… some sort of audio building blocks. We talked of EQ and frequencies and instrumentation and filters and wah wah (I know!). I came away knowing some of what was possible, very inspired, and knowing what I had to do next. A really useful morning, thanks Dan!
As I walked across Birmingham city centre I did have a crisis of confidence though. How deep should this research go? I had lunch with a friend who is doing a fine art PhD… talking to her has helped me clarify what I want, and how this research validates my decisions. Obviously I want the work to be authentic and the connections between the audio and the visual to be real and meaningful to me. But I’m not doing a PhD, and I’m not a sound engineer, or a music producer, or even a musician! Basically I want the audio to pick out the singularity of a/the sound. I want to show a building of individual pieces that make a whole. Of course you can say every piece of music does this: every single note in itself a building block, every word of the lyrics a building block.
So my question is not about EQ, frequency or phonons (as suggested by my scientist son who frankly, needs a slap for suggesting it), but about how it looks and sounds… what can I do to the sound to show this? I feel I don’t have the vocabulary to explain what I mean. When I talk to Dan I use visual analogies and wave my arms around a lot. I don’t have the brain power to totally understand the science of it. I am totally averse to the use of shallow or fake science in art – so in deference to the scientists (including my son) I shall stick to that I do understand… I know my work. I know when it looks how I want it.
I now need to work out how to make it SOUND like I want it.
Meanwhile… I stitch like a mad woman… as fast as I can so I can see how it looks and move onto the next thing.
C’mon Bo! Keep up!
